


The Nightmare Before Halloween

by SirLancelotTheBrave



Category: The Musketeers (2014)
Genre: Aramis is wishing he'd stayed at home, Athos is a BAMF, Halloween, Haunted House, M/M, Modern AU, OT3, Porthos is a bit of a bastard, and then fluff, chills and thrills
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-31
Updated: 2014-10-31
Packaged: 2018-02-23 07:39:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2539766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SirLancelotTheBrave/pseuds/SirLancelotTheBrave
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The boys go visit a haunted house attraction in the spirit of Halloween. It's not nearly as fun as they'd hoped for. In fact, it's rather terrifying.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Nightmare Before Halloween

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally conceived as one of the prompts for my writing challenge with ComeHitherAshes, but it exceeded 1000 words so I decided to make it a separate, Halloween-themed fic. Hooray!

Aramis eyed the doorway before them with trepidation. Mist billowed out at them and the door hung from its hinges. All he could see inside was darkness.

There weren't even any attendants after the ticket booth they'd passed through by the fence. The lady inside had told them the rules while Aramis was trying to get a glimpse of the house. He'd come back to hear her finish by saying they only allowed one group in at a time. What kind of haunted house was this?

"We don't have to go in," Athos murmured at his side, watching him squirm.

Aramis wasn't a fan of haunted houses. Things jumping out at him unexpectedly scared him more than he liked to admit. He'd face anything head on, but he just didn't like things creeping around, out of sight.

"Yeah we do, 'e lost the bet," Porthos said gleefully. "C'mon, babe, in we go." A large hand fastened around Aramis's bicep and dragged him toward the darkness. It took everything in him not to struggle.

"Hey, it ain't gonna be that bad," Porthos said, looking at him with a touch of concern. "We don't 'ave to go in if you really don't want to."

Aramis shook off the childish fear that gripped his heart and forced a bold smile onto his face. Porthos had wanted to come to this place since they'd read about it online. 'Terrifying local attraction opens for Halloween season.' He'd taken to leaving the page open on his laptop any time he left the room in an obvious attempt to talk them into it.

And then he'd lost that stupid bet. Aramis didn't appreciate being forced into coming, but now they were here, he wasn't going to ruin it for Porthos. "It's fine. Let's go." Straightening his spine and squaring his shoulders, he led the way through the dark portal.

The first thing he noticed was the music playing somewhere up ahead. It was odd and unsettling. The second thing he noticed was that it was pitch black inside.

Despite all his protests to the contrary, Aramis hated the dark.

He hesitated, right hand instinctively reaching behind him. He breathed a little easier when Athos's fingers caught his and finally began to walk down the dark hallway. He knew Athos thought this entire thing was stupid, but he was grateful that Athos at least wasn't teasing him for his reluctance.

Porthos was another matter.

"This's gonna be fun," he murmured gleefully, voice so close to Aramis's ear that he jumped. One of his hands settled against the small of Aramis's back, steering him forward.

They turned a corner, fumbling in the darkness. Aramis could see light spilling out from a room ahead of them, and subconsciously picked up his pace to reach it. He turned the corner and leapt back, crashing into Athos.

"What the fuck?" he cried, staring at the grisly display before them. Several fake corpses decorated the room, splattered with blood and gore. It felt as if the temperature had dropped several degrees. "That's sick."

Porthos was looking around with poorly disguised glee. "Told you this place was gonna be cool."

Athos frowned at him but said nothing.

"Keep goin'," Porthos ordered, nudging Aramis towards the door at the far end of the room. Aramis gave him a dark look and stepped closer to Athos, pointedly ignoring Porthos's proffered hand.

"Aw, babe, don't be like that," Porthos said, still grinning obnoxiously. "S'your own fault for bettin' the pup would ask Constance out before Halloween."

"Halloween is tomorrow," Aramis huffed, edging around one of the sprawled bodies. "There's still time. And I don't see why you chose thi-"

He broke off with a yell and darted forward, hauling Athos with him. One of the bodies had moved.

He waited for Porthos to laugh at him for being paranoid, but when he turned around he saw what he'd thought to be fake corpses were actually actors in terrifyingly realistic costumes, and they were clambering to their feet.

They were looking at him.

Aramis spared a moment to notice that Porthos looked far less amused now, and then he turned and fled, dragging Athos behind him.

Athos, for his part, appeared remarkably calm, but allowed Aramis to haul him through a short, dark hallway until they hit another room. This one was empty, but somehow, Aramis thought that might be worse.

And, he noticed with a sinking feeling, the music had stopped. The silence was even more unsettling.

Porthos barrelled into them a moment later, panting a bit and obviously trying very hard not to look ruffled.

"That was fun, yeah?" he asked breathlessly, eyeing the hallway behind them. Aramis's heartbeat finally slowed down when it was clear they weren't being chased.

"I hate this place," he said miserably, past false bravery. Why had Porthos thought this was a good idea? He knew how easily these sorts of things affected Aramis. He didn't even watch horror movies, for god's sake. He'd had nightmares after _The Grudge_ the one and only time Porthos had talked him into watching it.

Athos squeezed his fingers and Aramis leaned gratefully against him, looking around the small room they were in. "Let's just keep going and get this over with, I want to get out of here."

It was a testament to how shaken Porthos had been by the first room that he didn't even tease him.

Aramis took a step further into the room and leapt when the ground rumbled beneath him. With a groan, the walls began to close in on them.

Logically, Aramis knew nothing in this house could hurt him. That would be all kinds of illegal. But the panic that gripped his brain cut off logical thought. If Athos hadn't shoved him forward, he might have just stood there, terrified, until the walls stopped, hopefully before crushing him.

The three of them tumbled into the hallway and the door slammed shut behind them. The corridor before them was mostly dark, with pools of light every few yards. Aramis eyed it nervously. This place was playing on all his fears, and he wasn't sure he wanted to keep going.

But with a locked door behind them, it wasn't as if they could go back.

"C'mon," Porthos muttered, bravado gone as he stepped forward. "Can't be that much further."

Aramis followed, letting Athos, who still seemed totally calm, bring up the rear.

They crossed the first pool of light without incident. At the second one, something popped out of the wall and Aramis jumped, clutching Athos's hand so hard it must have hurt.

"S'just a robot," Porthos muttered, examining the grotesque face. "Animatronic."

"Right," Aramis said shakily. "I knew that."

Porthos sent him a concerned look and didn't even call him out on the blatant lie. He let his shoulder brush Aramis's before he started walking again.

He hung back when Porthos approached the next lighted area. Sure enough, something dropped down from the ceiling this time. He only jumped a little by the third one, which popped up from the ground on a spring, and by the fourth, his heartbeat was finally slowing down again.

The last puddle of light illuminated a door at the end of the hallway. Aramis, emboldened by the predictable animatronic jump scares, stepped ahead again, letting go of Athos's hand at last. He was reaching for the handle when the door opened on its own and something huge and covered in fur lunged at him, snarling.

Aramis couldn't help himself: he yelled with fear and fled, pushing past the thing to get deeper into the room. He couldn't hear if Athos and Porthos were following him. His only thought was to get out of this godforsaken haunted house.

Aramis darted through a room full of horrifying mock _Saw_ contraptions and down another hallway that flashed with strobe lights, disorienting him. He could just make out a door at the end, so he stumbled towards it, blinking against the dazzling lights. To his horror, the doorknob wouldn't turn.

He spun around, ready to run back the way he had come, only to see a hulking figure approaching. Its face was that of a snarling wolf, and it blocked the end of the hallway. Aramis couldn't get past it.

Suddenly it swiped at him. He leapt back, but it followed him, grabbing his forearms tightly.

Aramis panicked. They weren't supposed to touch him like this. It was against the rules. He tried to pull away, but it wouldn't let go. It kept emitting horrible howling and snuffling noises. Aramis yanked his arms back, the combination of adrenaline and pulsing lights making him dizzy, and all but sobbed when he couldn't get free.

A moment later, a fist connected squarely with the thing's face, knocking it to the ground.

Aramis scrambled backwards, panting. Strong arms wrapped around him, and he struggled for a moment before he realized it was Porthos. Aramis could feel Porthos's heart pounding against his back as he drew him away from the strobe lights and back into a dimly lit hallway.

"Aramis, you okay?" Porthos asked anxiously. Aramis blinked spots from his vision and nodded weakly. He was mortified to find he was shaking.

Athos appeared at his shoulder, reaching out to cup his jaw reassuringly. When Aramis flushed and broke eye contact, ashamed of himself, Athos scowled and turned to glare in the direction of the adjacent hallway.

Aramis glanced hesitantly over to see the figure pulling off its wolf mask to reveal a pockmarked kid with a bleeding nose. He eyed Porthos with fear as he drew a handkerchief from within his costume. He was trying to stem the flow of blood when Athos strode up to him, murder on his face.

"This place has a no-touch policy," Athos said, his voice icy with fury. "That was the guarantee before we entered. You have violated that rule, and you will bring us to your manager at once."

The actor quailed under Athos's cold authority. He glanced briefly back at Porthos again before apparently deciding Athos was scarier. "Uh, right. Follow me," the kid said weakly, knocking against a wall to open a brightly lit employee hallway.

Aramis's heart was still racing and his legs felt uncomfortably like Jell-O, so he stayed in the protective circle of Porthos's arms while Athos strode ahead beside the actor, still glaring murderously.

They passed a few other costumed actors in the maze of narrow, interconnected hallways who stared curiously at them. Aramis felt his face redden under the scrutiny until Porthos's growl sent them scurrying away.

It cheered Aramis up a bit to realize Athos and Porthos were probably the scariest things in the building.

They came at last to what looked a break room of some sort, complete with chairs and a vending machine. A door near the back was closed. The actor leading them crossed the room and knocked on it, ushering them inside when it opened.

Once inside, Aramis was treated to the sight of Athos reducing a grown man nearly to tears. He leaned back into Porthos's embrace, feeling oddly satisfied.

A few minutes, several apologies, and a full refund later, they were back in the break room, being led out by a woman dressed as a decaying zombie while the shouts of the manager presumably firing the wolf man echoed behind them.

No one spoke until they reached Athos's car in the crowded parking lot past the entrance and ticket booth. Athos spent the entire time glowering at Porthos, while Porthos seemed to be doing his best to absorb Aramis with how tightly he kept a hold of him. Aramis didn't have to look up at him to know his face would be a mask of guilt.

At the car, Porthos finally let go of Aramis so he could climb into the back seat. Unsurprisingly, Porthos followed him. It wasn't until Athos started the car that Porthos muttered quietly, "Sorry." He looked too miserable to say anything else, but for once he didn't read Aramis the Riot Act when he curled against his side rather than buckling up.

Athos thumbed the radio to some mindless pop station, and other than that, the ride passed in silence. Aramis closed his eyes and buried his face against Porthos's chest, head still pounding from the strobe lights.

They pulled into the garage behind their apartment building and piled out of the car. This time, Athos was the one who dragged Aramis to him, still glaring at Porthos, who shuffled miserably after them. The tension was beginning to make Aramis feel even worse.

It wasn't until Athos unlocked the door that Porthos spoke again. "Aramis…" he mumbled. Aramis nodded for Athos to go in and turned around.

Porthos looked more wretched than he felt.

"I shouldn'ta made you go," Porthos said desolately. "I knew it was gonna be intense. M'sorry."

Aramis sighed and stepped into Porthos's willing embrace. "I know, _querido_ ," he murmured. "It's alright. It's done now."

Porthos's arms tightened around his waist as a heavy sigh blew Aramis's hair around. "Still sorry," he said softly.

"It's forgiven," Aramis mumbled against his neck. "Never again, though, okay?"

"Okay," Porthos said solemnly. He huffed out a breath. "Think I mighta been more scared when you bolted than you were."

Aramis chuckled at the sincerity, biting back the retort about how that was unlikely. He had no wish to drag this out or hold it over Porthos's head forever. He tugged him gently toward the apartment, but Porthos hesitated.

"Think Athos forgives me?" he asked nervously.

Aramis chuckled again at his frightened expression. "He will," he promised, leading a reluctant Porthos into their apartment and locking the door behind him.

It appeared that Athos had turned on every light in the house. Aramis took in the reassuring glow and sighed happily, grateful for Athos's quiet understanding.

They found Athos on the couch in the living room, clearly waiting for them. While Aramis dropped easily down beside him and cuddled up to his side, Porthos hesitated until Athos rolled his eyes and jerked his head, motioning him over. Porthos grinned in relief and dropped down on Aramis's other side, stretching an arm along the back of the couch until his fingers brushed Athos's neck.

"Let's stay in for Halloween this year," he murmured wearily.

Porthos chuckled. "Okay. We can watch _The Nightmare Before Christmas_ again."

"And _It's the Great Pumpkin_ , _Charlie Brown_ ," Athos added, ignoring the incredulous looks they sent him.

Aramis was grinning about the discovery that Athos liked Charlie Brown when Porthos leaned forward and grabbed the bucket of Halloween candy off the table. "Why wait 'til tomorrow night?" he asked, plopping it down in Aramis's lap. "Let's start now."

Athos grabbed the controller off the table and began flicking through the channels, pausing when the opening bars of "This is Halloween" filled the room. Aramis snuggled down between them as he relaxed for the first time in hours, content for the nightmares to be on the TV.

**Author's Note:**

> Looking for more modern au's of our lovely boys? Check out 'Prompts, Pumpkins, and Pistols' or 'A Musketeer's Fall' for 31 drabbles celebrating October! Or, find me on Tumblr as lancelot-is-flying-the-tardis!
> 
> The ending of this was originally rather smutty. If there's any interest, I might write a smutty follow-up chapter, since I've already got a lovely beginning (hint: it involves a very large bathtub).
> 
> Comments are to me what candy is to children on Halloween :)


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